Foreign Direct Investment in China in last 10 years Essay Example for Free

Foreign Direct Investment in China in last 10 years Essay Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a long-term investment by a foreign investor and is considered a key component of national development strategies across all countries over the globe. This type of investment boosts the economic growth of a country through its positive impact on the country’s domestic capital, productivity, and employment statistics. FDI is the lifeblood of a growing economy that provides the host country benefits of increased labor standards and skills, transfer of new technology and innovative ideas, improved infrastructure and conducive business environment. It is a leading source of external financing. Countries that have stable market conditions coupled with high productivity, low costs of labor, effective government policies and adequate infrastructure facilities are considered to be the most favored destinations for foreign investment companies. Liberalization of economies has opened doors for many countries into the emerging markets of the developing nations such as China and India. The Chinese Economy The Chinese economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It has emerged from being an economy with virtually no foreign investment in the late 1970s to a country that attracts one of the largest amounts of foreign investment from investors across the globe. The increasing openness of the Chinese economy to foreign direct investment has contributed immensely to its exceptional growth and development. The increase in foreign direct investment in China has contributed to higher investment, and growth in productivity, greater employment opportunities, and a dynamic export sector. China is one of the most populous countries in the world with more than 1. 3 billion people with an annual growth rate of 0. 8%. It has taken adequate measures to curb its rising population figures and this has made a positive impact on its growth rate. The population density is approximately 136 persons per square kilometer with most of the people (almost 60 percent) living in rural areas. Life expectancy is also higher in this country than most developing nations across the globe. The country also has high literacy rate of 91 percent. The Chinese economy witnessed a slow but dramatic growth over the past twenty years. It has transformed from a poor economy with relatively low per capita income to the world’s fastest growing economy. The Chinese economy has emerged as a market-oriented economy that has become a dominant figure in world trade. The country has increased its interaction with international economy that has resulted in increased foreign trade and gross national product (GNP). The Chinese economy grew at 11. 4 percent in the year 2007. As per the FDI Confidence Index compiled by A. T. Kearney in the year 2005, China hold the first position followed by India and United States. China is currently the world’s fourth largest economy and it has expanded by at least 10 percent annually in the last four years. Foreign direct investment in China rose by 4. 5 percent in the year 2006 to approximately US$ 63 billion. The country’s foreign currency reserves are the world’s largest and primarily derived from the trade surplus that rose to almost US$ 177. 5 billion in the year 2006. FDI investment trend in the past 10 years Foreign direct investment sector in China has spelled success over the past ten years. It has increased from a mere US$ 19 billion in the year 1990 to more than US$ 700 billion in the year 2007. A glance at the capital and financial account item’s surplus in the past few years reveal that the foreign direct investment has made great contributions to the foreign exchange reserve accumulation. Besides this the FDI has a stabilizing influence on the country’s economy. This is largely due to the long-term commitment that FDI stands for while establishing foreign affiliates. Most developing countries hence are adopting policy reforms to attract more foreign investment into the country. China has accounted for more than one-third of the gross FDI flows to all emerging markets over the past decade. Despite the weakening of the global markets in the recent years, China has remained an essentially fast growing economy. The country’s capital inflows have been dominated by FDI that has made significant contribution to stabilizing the economy along with other associated benefits such as technological transfers and increasing managerial expertise. In 2007 the overall FDI inflows into China totaled US$ 82. 7 billion that is a 13. 8 percent increase from the previous year figures. The total number of deals dropped by almost 8 percent in the year 2006 from 44,019 in the year 2005 to 41,485 in the 2006. The increasing appreciation of the local currency renminbi during the period and the subsequent impact on the market was responsible for this drop. The year 2007 saw only 37,888 foreign investment deals, a drop of 8. 7 percent from the previous year figures. But the value of the FDI was significantly larger than the previous statistics. Wholly foreign-owned enterprises represented almost 78 percent of all foreign investments followed by equity joint ventures and contractual joint ventures. Continuous foreign capital inflow has rendered the Chinese economy the prime position in global context in terms of attracting foreign investment. The country accounts for an investment of foreign capital funds totaling US$ 8589 million by 5136 new foreign corporations between the period January to February 2006. The major sources of FDI in China are Hong Kong, British Virgin Islands, South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. Among other investors the prominent countries are United States, Taiwan, Cayman Islands, Western Samoa, and Mauritius. These top ten countries together account for 87. 2 percent of total FDI inflows into China. The manufacturing sector accounted for nearly 57. 7 percent totaling US$ 40. 1 billion of the total FDI inflows in the year 2006 followed by 11. 9 percent equivalent to US$ 8. 2 billion in the real estate sector. Other prominent sectors that reflect increasing foreign investment are leasing and business services (US$ 4. 2 billion), transport (US$ 2. 0 billion), wholesale and retailing (US$ 1. 8 billion). Low cost of manufacturing, increasingly wealthy consumer market comprising of 1. 3 billion people are attracting larger number of foreign companies to establish their outlets in China. The large-scale investment by foreign investors has helped in pushing the nation’s foreign currency reserves to almost US$ 1. 2 trillion that is quite high by global standards. The FDI outflow of China received significant attention in the year 2007 due to the creation of People’s Republic of China’s sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp. and several other high profile investments and acquisitions. China Investment Corp. purchased a stake of US$ 3 billion in Blackstone and 9. 9 percent stake of Morgan Stanley worth US$ 5 billion in the year 2006. The statistics of the total FDI outflow in the year 2006 reveal a total figure of US$ 21. 2 billion that is an increase of nearly 73 percent over the previous year figures. The State owned enterprises accounted for almost 86 percent of this total FDI outflow. The FDI outflow in the country is spread across 172 destinations across the world. The largest share of the FDI outflow from China is received by Latin America followed by Asia, Cayman Islands, and Hong Kong. The prime regional sources of China’s overseas investments are Guangdong, Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hainan, Hebei, and Beijing. Balance of Payments trend in the past 10 years Over the last ten years China’s Balance of Payments (BOP) kept its current and capital accounts in surplus constantly. The annual total scale of BOP accounts’ increased by 31. 6 percent during the period 1984 – 2004 when foreign reserves increased from US$ 0. 054 trillion to US$ 1. 91. In the first half of the year 2005, the BOP raised to US$ 1. 14 trillion that is an increase of 25. 3 percent over the previous year figures. There is a complimentary relationship between the growth of FDI and international trades. The trades and foreign investment have immense impact on the position of balance of payment, in terms of growth in international business activities. Source: International Financial Statistics July 2007, International Monetary Fund The changes in economic policies adopted and implemented by the Chinese government have made tremendous impact on its trade and balance of payments. The opening of the economy and its gradual move towards a market-oriented economy has made significant impact on the trade balances and foreign funds inflow into the country. A look at the balance of payments figures indicates that the current account surpluses and foreign direct investment have remained important contributors to accumulation of foreign exchange reserves in China. The trade surplus widened to over 177 billion dollars in 2006 to 262 billion dollars in the year 2007. The Government of China is planning to stimulate imports and streamline exports in the coming years. GDP and Inflation Trend in China GDP has shown a healthy growth trend over the past decade in China. Individuals have become richer with annual GDP rising from US$ 8,440 billion in the year 1998 to US$ 24,661 billion in the year 2007. The real GDP growth in the year 2007 was 11. 4 percent raised from 11. 1 percent in the year 2006. The 11. 4 percent GDP growth rate is the highest for China in the last 13 years and it is expected that the GDP will grow 10 percent in the forthcoming year. The economic growth in China was expected to slow down in the year 2007 due to the global market slump. However the rising oil prices across the globe has not made much of an impact so far on the Chinese economy due to the huge amounts of foreign investment in the country. But Chinese economy being more dependent on international trade will face a slow down eventually. Economists predict that the rising consumption pattern will have a slow down impact on the GDP growth rate in the year 2008. It is expected that the Chinese exports will slow down from 26 percent in the year 2007 to 19 percent in 2008. This is mainly accountable to the weakening global market demand and cuts in export rebates. A look at the inflation in China reveals a steadily growing curve. Inflation reached a high of 4. 8 percent in the year 2007 from 1. 5 percent in the year 2006. The rising inflation has reached the peak within the decade. It is expected that the inflation will continue to rise in the forthcoming years with percentage rising to more than 7 in the year 2008. The rising global price of oil has made significant impact on the market prices of goods and commodities in China. This has led to rising consumer oil prices and food prices, and producer price index. Inflation has spread to the service sector as well indicating rising cost of labor in the country. The consumer price index rose by 4. 5 percent in the urban areas and by 5. 4 percent in the rural areas in the year 2007. The rise in inflation is mainly attributed to increased food prices and housing sector. This is becoming a matter of concern for the Chinese economy since the escalating prices can have a negative impact on the overall economic growth. The Chinese government is trying to control inflation adopting strict monetary and trade regulations. Unemployment trend The per capita disposable income was 13,786 yuan in the year 2007 that is a growth of 17. 2 percent from over the previous year figure of 11,759 yuan. The rural per capita disposable income was 4140 yuan in the year 2007 that is a growth of almost 15. 4 percent over the previous year figure of 3587 yuan. The employment figures also raised in the past few years steadily both in the urban and rural sectors. The number of employed people in urban areas reached 12. 04 million people in the year 2007 an increase of 200,000 people over the previous year statistics. China has generated almost 51 million jobs in the past five years in the urban areas. Statistics reveal that there are about 20 million new job seekers in the country every year and the economy is able to provide approximately 12 million jobs per year. Government efforts are directed towards generating more jobs. The country has implemented active employment policies since the year 2002 that has increased the number of employed people from 8. 4 million to 12. 04 million in the last year. Impact of FDI on the Chinese Economy The past few years has witnessed the emerging of China’s economy as the most successful in the world utilizing the inflow of foreign direct investment towards its economic development. The key driving force towards this economic mobilization is the opening up of the Chinese economy to foreign trade and investment. The opening of the economy with subsequent rise in foreign direct investment has contributed immensely to its exceptional growth and development. The foreign direct investment has made a positive impact on the country’s balance of payments. Besides this the impact has been favorable on the country’s GDP growth rate. It has not only raised GDP growth by adding to capital formation but also has contributed to higher GDP growth through its effect on total productivity. The establishment of foreign funded enterprises has directly contributed to the GDP growth an introduction of new technologies and management skills. The growth in industrial establishments and service sector has created new employment opportunities and this is seen as a significant contributor to economic development in China. Moreover, the foreign direct investment has assisted in establishing a highly competitive manufacturing sector in the country. This has contributed immensely to the rising exports and the country’s participation in world trade. References: 1. Foreign Direct Investment in China: International Monetary Fund, 2002 http://www. imf. org/external/pubs/ft/pdp/2002/pdp03. pdf accessed on 9th April, 2008 2. The US-China Business Council – Forecast 2008 China’s Economy http://uschina. org/public/documents/2008/02/2008-china-economy. pdf accessed on 9th April, 2008 3. ADB: China’s GDP to grow 10% in 08, inflation at 5. 5% http://www. chinadaily. com. cn/china/2008-04/02/content_6587641. htm accessed on 9th April, 2008 4. Chinese Inflation hits highest level in more than a decade, Feb 20, 2008 http://www. iht. com/articles/2008/02/19/business/yuan. php accessed on 9th April, 2008 5. National Bureau of Statistics of China http://www. stats. gov. cn/english/statisticaldata/yearlydata/ accessed on 9th April, 2008

Chemicals Needed for Muscle Contraction

Chemicals Needed for Muscle Contraction The goal for this lab was to determine the conditions that demonstrate what chemicals in muscle fibers are necessary for contraction and which ones prevent muscle contraction from occurring in a simplified system in order to determine the minimum requirement for contraction. Methods In order to prepare muscle fibers, a single thread was obtained from a mass of glycerinated muscle fibers which was about 0.5 mm in diameter. The muscle was a rabbit psoas muscle in 50% glycerol (stored at -10 degrees C) obtained from Carolina Biological. In order to have an observation of what was taking place with the muscle, Nikon E400 was used. The fiber was placed on a slide in the presence of 0.05 M KCl and 0.005 M K phosphate buffer (pH 7). The first step was to detect the minimum requirement solution for muscle contraction to take place. This was done by using the following solutions: 0.001 M MgCl2, 0.001 M CaCl2, and 0.1 M ATP. The requirement was determined after observing the changes taking place when each of the solutions were added to the muscle separately, in combinations of two, and all three solutions together. After the minimum requirement was determined, chelators were used to see whether they inhibited contraction in the presence of the solution that caused contraction. The chelators were 0.002 M EDTA and 0.002M EGTA. The EDTA binds Ca ++ and Mg ++. EGTA binds only Ca++. The chelating agents enhance the solubility of magnesium and calcium and allow them to spread out of the muscle fibers. This causes the removal of the ions from the actin and myosin environment. It was important that the chelators were added before the contracting agents when inhibition was being tested. Otherwise, it would be impossible to detect any changes once the contraction has taken place; contraction is not reversible once it occurs in a simplified system. Then Solution A and Solution B were used to examine the localization of myosin and actin in the myofibrils. Solution Aà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s function was to solubilize and remove myosin in the form of monomers from its loci which is in the myofibril. Solution B had the same behavior as the actin. The Solutions were placed on the myofibril to see changes that took place and observations were made. Discussion and Conclusion During this lab, using the microscope we examined the changes that took place when certain solution were introduced to the rabbit psoas muscle fibers. The solutions caused contraction, inhibited contraction to occur, or had no effect on the sarcomeres at all. We used glycerinated myofibrils from rabbit psoas muscle which is a type of striated muscle. Rabbit psoas muscle was a good model to use for this lab since the fibers are long and straight. Also one other advantage was that there were not a lot of connective tissues connecting the muscle fibers together. This was an in vitro model meaning that experiment was completed outside the living organism. The Phase Contrast with magnification of 10X/ 40X was used during this lab to examine the slide because the cells are transparent and Phase Contrast is the best option to use in order to have a good resolution. Under a microscope the myofibers were striated and they had a repeating pattern of bands and lines. The pattern was caused by parallel organization of protein filaments within the myofibrils. In the myofibril, there are two types of filament- the thick filaments which consist of the protein myosin and thin filaments composed of the protein actin. As demonstrated on Table 1, Mg2Cl2, Ca2Cl2, and ATP were the solution used to determine the changes taking place with the muscle. All of the three solutions were placed on the slide which consisted of a thread of muscle fiber and contraction of the muscle was observed. We could tell when contraction was taking place because the fiber was short in length and it was easy to see the changes such as the shortening in length and the color change. When Mg2Cl2 and Ca2Cl2 were added individually to the fiber, nothing happened. However, as soon as the ATP was placed on changes were easily observed. ATP caused muscle contraction by itself. The sarcomeres in the muscle fiber shortened in length and the color changed from light yellow to darker yellow. However, in order to make sure this was the minimum requirement for muscle contraction, we added Mg2Cl2 with ATP and Ca2Cl2 with ATP. With the MgCl2 and ATP, the contraction occurred immediately as the solutions were added. The contraction was even faster than the ATP alone. Then ATP and Ca2Cl2 solutions were introduced and this also caused contraction. Even though the combination of the two solutions caused contraction to occur faster than ATP by itself, it was slower than the solutions of ATP and Mg2Cl2. As a result, we concluded that ATP was the minimum requirement needed for the cells to contract. All the solutions that caused contraction were not in one dimension because every component of a sarcomere was facing changes except the A band which stayed the same. The I bands, the M line, the Z lines, and the actin and mysosin- they were all decreasing in length in order to cause contraction. At the end, it was determined that ATP was the requirement for glycerinated muscle contraction. When there is no ATP present, the myosin heads in the muscle will not be activated and it would not bind to the actin. In glyceri nated tissues, the combination of KCl and MgCl2 with ATP increased the strength of muscle contraction. This was mainly due to myosinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s high affinity for these ions. Table 2 shows whether contraction was inhibited in the presence of chelating agents, EDTA and EGTA, when it was used with the main solution that caused contraction, ATP. EDTA and EGTA did not inhibit contraction from taking place, but the contraction was slower than when ATP was present. EDTA is a chelating agent that binds Ca++ and Mg++ and EGTA is a chelating agent that binds Ca++. The chelating agents increase the solubility of Mg 2+ and Ca2+ so that they can leave the muscle fibers. With ATP and the chelating agents, contraction occurred and there was no inhibition taking place. Table 3 shows two different solutions, Solution A and solution B, and their effect on actin and myosin. As shown in the table, solution A had KCl, phosphate buffer, Na pyrophosphate, and MgCl2 while solution B had phosphate buffer. Both of these solutions did not cause any contraction in the muscle based on our observations. However, changes were observable because in both cases the fibers changed color; they became lighter yellow. This meant that the muscles were not contracting. Solution A made the mysosin more soluble and solution B acted in the same manner as the actin. When comparing the muscle in living tissue, the glycerinated muscle system is different. The glycerination technique eliminates ions and ATP from the tissue and disrupts the troponin/tropomyosin complex. When the complex is interrupted, the available binding sites on the actin fibers are no longer blocked ( Cell and Molecular Biology). As a result, Ca2+ is not one of the requirements to cause contraction. On the other hand, since there is no ATP is in the glycerinated tissue, the myosin heads cannot be activated to cause contraction. After the muscle contracted it did not relax since there were no opposing muscles to pull it. Also, muscle fibers do not contract when there are no stimulations or nerve signals and this was one of the differences with glycerinated muscle and the living cell muscle. Errors could have occurred in this lab if one used very thick muscle strands. Having thinner strands were better to have good results. Also, it is possible that much of the calcium was still in the sarcoplasmic reticulum of the glycerinated muscle, which would have lead into incorrect results. All in all however, the lab was successful and we have obtained what we were looking for- what solutions cause contraction, which ones inhibit, and what is the minimum requirement for muscle contraction.

Essay --

El tà ³rax es la porcià ³n del cuerpo que se halla entre el cuello y el abdomen. Envuelve las costillas y el esternà ³n. Interiormente en el pecho se localiza diversos à ³rganos como el corazà ³n, pulmones y esà ³fago. La pleura, una membrana de tejido delgado, reviste el interior de la cavidad torà ¡cica. Observa el tà ³rax para determinar si la frecuencia y los movimientos respiratorios son normales Para que luego se percute el pecho con los dedos para saber si los pulmones està ¡n llenos de aire, lo que es normal, o bien si contienen là ­quido, lo cual es anormal. La percusià ³n tambià ©n permite determinar si la membrana que envuelve el corazà ³n (pericardio) o la que cubre los pulmones (pleura) contiene là ­quido. Colocar la mano sobre el tà ³rax para determinar el tamaà ±o del corazà ³n y el tipo y la fuerza de las contracciones durante cada latido. A veces, un flujo de sangre anormal y turbulenta dentro de los vasos o entre las cavidades del corazà ³n, provoca una vibracià ³n que se percibe con las yemas de los dedos o con la palma de la mano. Un flujo sanguà ­neo turbulento generalmente aparece cuando la sangre pasa por và ¡lvulas estrechas o que no cierran bien. En el caso de los derrames pleurales: se encuentra matidez a la percusià ³n (eventualmente con curva de Damoiseau) con disminucià ³n de las vibraciones vocales a la palpacià ³n. En el caso de condensaciones pulmonares: se encuentra matidez en la percusià ³n con aumento de la transmisià ³n de las vibraciones vocales en la palpacià ³n. En el caso de una atelectasia: se comporta parecido a un derrame pleural pero no se da una curva de Damoiseau. En el caso de un hemidiafragma ascendido: matidez de la base, falta de desplazamiento con la respiracià ³n, ausencia de transmisià ³n de vibraciones vocales en esa zona. En el caso... ...a columna. Colocando el fonendoscopio sobre las arterias y las venas en cualquier lugar del cuerpo, se pueden detectar seà ±ales de flujo turbulento, llamados soplos, causados por un estrechamiento de los vasos o por comunicaciones anormales entre ellos. No todas las enfermedades cardà ­acas provocan soplos y no todos los soplos indican un trastorno. En una estenosis mitral en ritmo sinusal: ritmo regular; primer ruido acentuado; en el dià ¡stole se ausculta un chasquido de apertura seguido por una rodada mitral, de intensidad III/VI, con un refuerzo pre sistà ³lico. En una insuficiencia aà ³rtica en ritmo sinusal: ritmo regular; segundo ruido disminuido de intensidad; soplo diastà ³lico en decrescendo, grado II/VI, que se ausculta en el foco aà ³rtico y borde para esternal izquierdo. Soplo meso sistà ³lico grado II/VI en el foco aà ³rtico que se irradia a la base del cuello.

Socrates’ Trial Defense in Terms of His Values Essay -- Plato Socrates

Socrates’ Trial Defense in Terms of His Values In his Apology, Plato recounted the trial that led to the execution of his friend and mentor, Socrates. The account revealed that values of Socrates’ accusers and his own fundamentally differed, and that they had been angered because he tried to prove that they had misplaced theirs. Those differences created conflict between the two parties that culminated in his trial. With the understanding that a jury condemned Socrates to death and his defense nevertheless pleased him because he gave it truthfully, it is most sensible to call it a good defense because he felt it was the best that he could do. In reply to the first charge against him, Socrates effectively recounted the reason that he had been privately questioning Athenians and claiming that some of their personal beliefs had been ill-founded. The affidavit read, â€Å"Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.† (Plato, 2) The abstractness of that accusation made it an odd one to refute, so Socrates attempted to do so by explaining how he became unpopular with his accusers. Socrates established very early in his defense that he knew he had no wisdom, and he based his investigations of Athenians’ wisdom on finding at least one person wiser than he was. He recalled a story of Chaerephon, an old Athenian friend, who went to the Oracle of Delphi to ask whether anybody had more wisdom than Socrates did, and she â€Å"’†¦answered that there was no man wiser.’† (Plato, 3) Socrates explained that since he knew he had no wisdom, he began a search to find a ... ...ur persons and your properties, but first and chiefly to take care about the greatest improvement of the soul.† (Plato, 11) His mission attempted to show Athenians that the way to do that is to live in truth and justice. Socrates’ defense maintained the integrity of the values that he lived by. He affirmed that he was not angered at being condemned to death, saying, â€Å"I would rather die having spoken after my manner, than speak in your manner and live.† (Plato, 17) He devoted himself so completely to improving his soul and the souls of others that, while he faced enormous odds in convincing jury members who considered him evil, he undoubtedly believed that his defense left his soul in its best condition before he died. In those terms, Socrates could not have delivered a better defense. Sources: http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html

Essay --

Isolation of leprosy patients What started as a problem with a horrific disease, lead to isolation of leprosy patients. It was hard for these patients to settle and make homes; communities feared the spreading of illness. The government took an old plantation to create a hospital for the leprosy patients. The old plantation was called hospital #66 or better known as Carville. â€Å"Over a long time period, the disease can be disfiguring, and societies have stigmatized victims of the disease. This attribute is deeply discrediting since the stigmatized individual is disqualified from full social acceptance. Leprosy was thus dreaded, not because it killed, but because it left one alive with no hope†. (P1. And 2, Sato, H., & Frantz, J. (2005). Termination of the leprosy isolation policy in the US and japan: Science, policy changes, and the garbage can model.) People deemed with this Disease were brought to Carville mandatory to be quarantined; some patients were brought in shackles against there will. Pati ents were forced to leave everything they knew and loved behind, including friends, family and children. While scientists worked to find a cure, policyholders that conducted legislative procedures were defining and enacting the problem; policies were designed to isolate sick patients as prevention of the further spread of the disease. Patients were even feared by medical staff and did not want to aide in helping these sick patients. Seeing the needs of these patients, a group of sisters named Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul stepped up and provided compassion. The disease is first noticed by skin change to usually hands and feet. In the movie Triumph at Carville directed by John Wilhelm and Sally Squires, one patient sa... ... isolation policy provided patients with some social support, but continuously deprived them of their civil liberties. Furthermore, the policy as an authoritative statement on the disease may have fostered the social stigma associated with a belief that the disease is a dreadful contagion, thereby maintaining a hurdle to patients' reintegration into society. Evidently, the policy's abolition was not easily accomplished nor was achieved solely by advances in scientific knowledge†. (P. 10) Carville took on what feared the public on multiple levels and were able to move past it. As dreadful as it was for the patients to go through, they were the first to say that all the pain was worth it. The Daughters of charity and the doctors took on a daunting task and made it ok. The patients all commented that the sisters showed love and compassion making it feel like home.

Advantages of Using Ict as a Tool for Teaching and Learning Process

Advantages of using ICT as a tool for teaching and learning process in higher education institution. ICT defined as information and communication technology (ICT) the hardware and software that enables data to be digitally processed, stored and communicated. ICT can be used to access, process, manage, and present information model and control events, construct new construct new understanding and communicate with other. In the context of learning process, ICT may be referred as a necessary tool for any student who desires further learning shortly after the internet explosion of the 1990s.ICT was immediately integrated into educational field. Even though symbolized advancement in human knowledge was seen as a setback by many educator and instructors at the university. There are many advantages of using ICT as a tool for teaching and learning. The advantages such as ICT can be used at anytime, anywhere, access to remote learning resources and it help to prepare individual for the work p lace. First of all, the advantage of using ICT as a tool for teaching and learning process in higher education learning is anytime and anywhere. Dr.Ken Olson, President of Digital and Equipment Corporation who said he had prescribed a time when computers will weigh no more than one and a half tons. One defining feature of ICT is the capability to transcend time and space between time. ICT make possible asynchronous learning or learning characterized by a time lag. For example, internet can be accessed 24hours per day for seven days per week. ICT based educational delivery such as educational programming broadcast over radio or television also dispenses with the need for all learners and instructors to be in one physical location.In addition, certain type of ICTs, such as teleconferencing technologies, enable instruction to be received simultaneously by other learner at higher learning institution. In a nutshell, we can see that using of ICT tools in higher learning institution give many advantages. The advantages in information technology have heavily influenced especially in teaching and learning process. In 2000, most excellent student of National University of Malaysia used ICTs tool as medium to excellent were stated and published in Berita Harian newspaper.All the benefits can lead many student to excellent in their study and at the same time they can diverse their knowledge in their study and provide so many resources if they really want to do some research about their study. They also can communicate better with their lecturers or instructors through the web cam on their computer. Internet services provide â€Å"Skype† to make people easier to communicate with each other. They can ask their lecturers or instructors about so many question and clarify better about their assignment or lecture syllabus. The most important thing it’s a free services.

Managerial Finance Essay

ASSIGNMENT BMMF5103 MANAGERIAL FINANCE 15 July 2013 QUESTION 1 a) Maximizing shareholder wealth is a â€Å"moral imperative† for financial manager means managers are supposed to work for shareholders who are the actual owners of a company or corporation. Shareholders elect company directors who in turn hire managers to run the company on day to day basis with the view to make profit for the company. Managers are paid for their services rendered to the company whereas the shareholders own the company. As such morally managers should pursue policies that enhance shareholder value with the primary objective focused on stockholder wealth maximization. b) Managers make key day-to-day decisions to maximize shareholder value. But how do the owners of a business know that managers are operating to maximize shareholder value? This lack of information is known as the principal-agent problems. The agent performs the tasks on shareholders’ behalf yet the shareholders cannot ensure that the agent performs precisely the way the shareholders would like. Agency costs as related to a corporation refers to the costs of preventing agents (e.g. managers) pursuing their own interests at the expense of shareholders. There might be conflicts between shareholders and the company managers. Shareholders who are owners want the managers to make decisions which will increase the share value. Managers who receive salaries prefer to expand the business with the view to increase their salaries which may not necessarily increase the share value. Thus, agency costs tend to decrease the value of a corporation because the rising costs make the share price low when there is substantial debt involved. Costs of monitoring will increase and thus reduce wealth maximization of shareholders. c) Business ethics is the acceptable set of moral values and corporate standards of conduct in running a business organization. It includes proper business policies and practices such as corporate governance, as a check against insider trading, bribery, discrimination and covers corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities. Business ethics is a basic framework providing proper conduct, it may be guided by law or put in placeso as to gain public confidence and acceptance. An example of business ethics is when an employee lie to a potential client to get him to sign for services or purchase the product offered. Business ethics is important to a corporation because it will determine its reputation. It will give public confidence towards the corporation. It is essential for the long-term survival and success of the corporation in business. Implementing an ethical program will foster a successful corporation culture, values and enhanced profitability. Business ethics will also influence the way the corporations conduct its business and affect all including customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, etc. d) Advantages i) There is no maturity period in common stock. Thus, eliminating future repayment obligation and enhances the desirability of common stock financing. ii) There is no obligation for repayment of the funds. Instead, there are others to share the risk of the business investment with. Since there is no debt obligation, there is no finance fee. iii) Issuing common stock can increase firm’s borrowing power.The more common stock is sold, the larger the firm’s equity base. Therefore, the more easily and cheaply long-term debt financing can be obtained. iv) Once capital is raised through stock, the corporation is free to use the proceeds in any way it pleases. Disadvantages i) Involves high cost.It may be the most expensive form of long-term financing. Dividends are not tax-deductible and common stock is a riskier  security than either debt or preferred stock. ii) Potential effects of dilution on earnings and voting power. When a company or corporation issues more shares, its financial results must be divided by a larger number of shares, causing dilution. This is because selling of shares of the company means giving each investor a piece of ownership. Because they own the share of the company, the investors have the right to demand explanations and justifications for business decisions. iii) Market perception that management think. Management issues involve examining perceptions about management and perceptions by management. It includes various judgments regarding the competence of current and future management team as well as issues related to insider buying such as future strategies to increase operations and market share.When management makes large purchases of their own stock with private funds, investors may feel that the company is undervalued or that a favorable company event will occur soon. e) The three main users of ratio analysis i) Owners: The owners of a firm are mainly interested in the firm’s profitability, liquidity and hence survival. Therefore, they need financial ratios to test the performance of their company such as profitability ratios to find outwhether management is able to convert sales dollars into profits and cash flow. The common ratios are gross margin, operating margin and net income margin. The gross margin is the ratio of gross profits to sales. The operating margin is the ratio of operating profits to sales and net income margin is the ratio of net income to sales. The return-on-asset ratio, which is the ratio of net income to total assets, measures a company’s effectiveness in deploying its assets to generate profits. The return-on-investment ratio, which is the ratio of net income to shareholders’ equity, indicates a company’s ability to generate a return for its owners. These ratios are useful to owners of companies. ii) Creditors Creditors are interested in a firm’s ability to pay their debts over a short period of time.The ratio analysis will evaluate the firm’s liquidity  position. Creditors use liquidity ratio, which is the ratio of current assets to current liabilitiestogauge the ability of the company to pay its short-term bills. A ratio of greater than one is usually a minimum because anything less than one means the company has more liabilities than assets. iii) Management Management team comprising financial managers regularly use ratio analysis to evaluate financial policies and decisions they have made. It is the overall responsibilities of the management team to make sure available resources are used most effectively and efficiently and that the financial positions of the company is sound.Management uses profitability ratios to analyze the company’s ability to convert sales dollars into profits and cash flow. For example, the return-on-investment ratio, which is the ratio of net income to shareholders’ equity, indicates a company’s ability to generate a return for its owners. Examples of ratio formula: Example 1: Gross margin ratio Gross Margin = Gross Profit Revenue Gross profit and revenue figures are obtained from the income statement of a business. Alternatively, gross profit can be calculated by subtracting cost of goods sold from revenue. Thus gross margin formula may be restated as: Gross Margin = Revenue − Cost of Goods Sold Revenue Example 2: Operating margin ratio Operating income is same as earnings before interest and tax. Operating income and revenue figures is available from the income statement of a company. Operating Margin = Operating Income Revenue QUESTION 2 a) There are five different categories of financial ratios. They are: i) Liquidity ratio is used to measurecompany’s ability to pay its short-term debt obligations. As such, they focus on the firm’s current assets and current liabilities on the balance sheet.The most common liquidity ratios used is the current ratio mainly to give an idea of the company’s ability to pay back its short-term liabilities such as debt and payables with its short-term assets such as cash, inventory and receivables. ii) Debt ratio is used to measure company’s ability to meet its long-term debt obligations. The ratio indicates what proportion of debt a company has relative to its assets. The measure gives an idea to the leverage of the company along with the potential risks the company faces in terms of its debt-load. iii) Financial leverage ratio measure the extent to which a business or investor is using the borrowed money. A company having high leverage is considered to be at risk of bankruptcy in the event the company is unable to repay the debts. The most common financial leverage ratio is the debt-to-equity ratio calculated as total debt divided by shareholders equity iv) Asset efficiency or turnover ratios measure the efficiency a company uses its assets to produce sales. The most common asset efficiency ratios are the inventory turnover ratio, the receivables turnover ratio, the days’ sales in inventory ratio, the days’ sales in receivables ratio, the net working capital ratio, the fixed asset turnover ratio, and the total asset turnover ratio. v) The profitability ratios measure the company’s ability to generate a profit and an adequate return on assets and equity. The ratios measure how efficiently the firm uses its assets and how effectively it manages its operations. An example is the Net profit margin ratio is a ratio of profitability calculated as after-tax net income (net profits) divided by sales (revenue). It shows the amount of each sales dollar left over after all expenses have been paid. Limitations of financial ratios i) Although financial ratios can be effective tools for gauging financial performance and managerial effectiveness, they rarely provide answers. Ratios will not say why something is going wrong and what to do about a particular situation; they only pinpoint where a problem is. ii) There is no international standards on the use of financial ratios. Limitation of ratios interpretation emerges when a particular set of ratios of a company is compared to other company or business. For example, for calculating the inventory turnover one company may use the cost of goods sold as the numerator, while another may use its sales figures. A company may use the operating profit to calculate its total assets turnover, while another may use the net income after taxes. iii) Benchmark for assessing company’s financial position is needed. Different operating methodologies may be employed to run a company may render the comparison of financial ratios irrelevant. Example, a company prefers to lease most of its assets while another company may own them. Thus, some of the ratios, such as debt to total assets, fixed-charge coverage, total assets turnover, and return on total assets, would be unrelated. iv) The inflation factor can make the ratio of a particular company look good or bad. Inventory turnover may have deteriorated over a three-year period; the problem may not due to the increase in physical inventory, but rather, to increase in the cost of the goods. b) Effect of an increase in a company’s debt ratio to its return on equity. An increase on debt-ratio will be increase in the return of equity. If a company finances itself through debt, the creditors shoulder the risk. If the debt results in increased earnings, the return on shareholder investment is exponential. Total liabilities include both the current and non-current liabilities. The formula to calculate the debt ratio is: Debt Ratio = Total Liabilities Total Assets Return on Equity is expressed as a percentage and calculated as: ROE = Net Income/Common Equity c) Long-term interest rate = (RM13,000,000) (8/100) = RM1,040,000 Short-term interest rate = RM1,300,000 – RM1,040,000 = RM260,000 Short-term interest rate = RM260,000/RM1,546,000 = 0.168 Rate of interest on notes payable is 16.8% d) Changes in value of equity (in millions) (RM in millions) Shareholders’ beginning equity 537 Shareholders’ ending equity 485 Difference beginning & ending equity 52 Net income 128 Less: Paid dividends 57 Difference 71 Stock/shares purchased in the year (52+71) 123 Shares purchased throughout the year is RM123 million e) If the current ratio of corporation is 5.65 when industry average is 1.42, this disparity means that the corporation is having: i) an excess build-up in inventory. When the corporation holds a high level of inventory, it ties up business funds that could have been used in other areas such as in development or marketing. The cost of the inventory is not recovered by the corporation until it sells the inventory. ii) aged account receivables which is the amounts owed to the company by its customers. The corporation’s account receivables reports will identify problems with receivables management process and identify accounts that require collection action. QUESTION 3 a) Although ownership of stock represents ownership in a company, not all stock is created equal. Therefore there are two basic types of stock: common stock and preferred stock. Preferred stock is sometimes referred to as a hybrid security because it has features of common stocks and bonds. A company’s preferred stock trades independently of its common stock and offers preferred stockholders a different set of benefits. Preferred stocks paid amount of dividends just as fixed interest bond. It is not debt but equity like common stocks. b) Preferred stock par value of RM100 with annual dividend 10%. Annual rate of return is 11.5%. i) RM100 X10/100% = RM10. Yield of 11.5% 11.5%/100 = 0.115 = RM86.96 ii) As the risk-free rate increases, the required rate of return will increase and the price will drop. When rates increase, the price of the preferred stock will likely fall. If price falls, the issuer will likely call the preferred stock and replace it with a new preferred stock issue at a lower rate, conventional debt, or perhaps even common stock c) RM4.63(1+0.05)/(0.12-0.05) = 4.8615/0.07 = 69.46 The value of the company’s stock if the required rate of return is 12% is RM69.46 d) Before change in price per share, r =5% + (8% -5%) beta 1.3 = 8.9% After change in price per share, r = 4% + (10% – 4%) 1.5 = 13% Therefore, the change in price per share is RM4.87 e) Formula for constant growth is rs = r RE + (rm – rRE)b = 6% + 5% (1.4) = 13% 2013 = RM0 dividen 2015 = RM1.00 2016 = RM1.00 (1.2) = RM1.20 2017 = RM1.00 RM1.44 2018 = RM1.00 RM1.728 2019 = RM1.00 RM1.849 Calculate growth between constant rate = The price of the stock is RM20.16 QUESTION 4 a) Needs RM40,000/year during retirement period n = 10 yrs, i = 9 % PVA = PMT (PVIFA) = RM40,000 (9.129) = RM365,160 PV = RM365,160 (0.422) = RM154,097.52 The Mirians should deposit RM154,097.52 b) Model A: PV = PMT (PVIFA) = RM5,000 (3.993) = RM19,965 Model B: Year Payment (RM) PVIF PV 1 7,000 0.926 6,482 2 6,000 0.857 5,142 3 5,000 0.794 3,970 4 4,000 0.735 2,940 5 3,000 0.681 2,043 Total: 20,577 I would purchase/buy model A because it is cheaper by RM612 compared to model B. c) Which option to be chosen? Option 1 PMT = RM3,500/2.487 = RM1,407,318.05 Option 2 PMT = RM3,500/3.102 = RM1,128,304.32 Option 3 PMT = RM3,500/3.605 = RM970,873.79 The company should choose option 3 because lower by RM157,430.53 compared to option 2 which is second lowest d) Present value is exact invest of the compound interest calculations. Applying compound interest calculation is to find the future value of a present amount. Using the present value calculation a present value amount is found to be received in future. e) Over certain period the principle amount increases as a result of the installment payments resulting in lower amount of interest that is charged by the bank. QUESTION 5 a) When an investor buys a bond, the investor is lending money to the bond issuer, which could be a government, corporation, etc. The issuer promises to pay a specified rate of interest during the life of the bond and to repay the principal, also known as face value or par value of the bond, when it â€Å"matures,† or comes due after a set period of time. Thus bonds provide interest payment and principal payment. Payment of interest is done annually or semi-annually. Coupon payments are paid periodically. When bond matures a principal sum is paid which is a lump sum payment. b) Bond prices and interest rates are related. Interest rates and bond prices have â€Å"inverse relationship†, when one goes up, the other goes down. If interest rates is high enough, bond prices would fall. If interest rates is low, bond prices would rise. Prices of short-term bonds do not fluctuate  more often compared to long-term bond. Premium bond is sold when the stated rate of interests exceed the required rate of return. Example, if rates dropped to below original coupon rate of 7% for RM1,000 bond, it would be priced at a premium since it would be carrying a higher interest rate than what was currently available in the market. A bond will sell at a discount when the stated rate of interest is less than the required return. Bond is sold equal to the par value when the stated rate of interest is equal to the required return. c) Param does not have enough money to buy 10 bonds if the required rate of return is 9%. This is because the required rate of return which is 9% is less than the coupon rate of the bond which is 10%. The price of the bond is greater than the par value of RM1,000. Considering there are 10 bonds, the total price is greater than RM10,000. That is the reason why Param would not have enough money to buy the 10 bonds. d) FV = RM1,000 PMT =150 N = 10 PV = RM1,250 1/YR = 10.79% e) Interest rate risk is the risk of decline in bond values due to the increase in interest whereas reinvestment risk is the risk of an income decline due to a drop in interest rates. Bond holders who bought long-term bond is greatly at risk to the interest rate risk. QUESTION 6 a) [(RM18+RM4+RM3+RM2-RM24)/24] X 100% = 12.5%. Therefore, Billie jean’s realized rate of return during the three years holding period is 12.5% b) (i) Stock 1 8 + 0.8 (12 – 8) = 11.2% Stock 2 8 + 1.2 (12 – 8) = 12.8% Stock 3 8 + 0.6 (12 – 8) = 10.4% (ii) Stock 3 is undervalued due since E (R) ≠¥ RR c) Beta is the measurement for market risk which is non-diversifiable. The risk must be dealt with by the portfolio manager. Diversifiable risk should be diversified away by portfolio manager so that it would not pose a problem to the investment. As such all market risks is all relevant to the portfolio manager since it is his job and responsibility in balancing the likely risk and return. d) The situation suggest that investors are more risk adverse compared to before the shift taking place. On the portfolio, a risk premium of 11% (16% – 5%) is required whereas previously 10% (15% – 5%). If slope were to change downward, it means investors are less aversion to risk. e) Expected return: 0.9(12%) + 0.1 (20%) = 12.8% Beta: 0.9(1.2) + 0.1(2.0) = 1.28%